In order to temporarily provide cross border veterinary services in the Republic of Cyprus, one needs to notify the Cyprus Veterinary Council, operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment.

The veterinary practice includes the examination of animals in order to draw a diagnosis, treatment of animals, carrying out surgical operation on animals, provision of veterinary advice or prescription or certificate, administration of drugs or biological products and implementation of measures for the prevention of animal diseases or for the improvement of animal’s health conditions, autopsy performance on animals, inspection of products of animal origin in order to ensure that they are appropriate and suitable for human consumption, sample taking from live or dead animals or products of animal origin for laboratory testing, execution of veterinary laboratory diagnostics.

Eligibility Criteria

Any natural person is eligible to notify the Cyprus Veterinary Council and temporarily provide cross border veterinary services, if he/she:

is an EU member state citizen;

lawfully exercises the veterinary practice in an EU member state;

has not been prohibited, even temporarily, from the exercise of the veterinary practice in the member state of establishment, at the time of submitting the notification;

possess a recognized diploma/certificate or equivalent title listed in Annex III of the Law (Annex V.4. of Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications as amended) or covered by the provisions of article 9 A of Law (article of 23 Directive 2005/36/EC as amended) or recognised by the Cyprus Council for the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications;

possess good knowledge of the Greek language and especially good knowledge of the Greek veterinary terminology.

Notification Procedure

The declaration form concerning the temporary provision of services for regulated professions in the Republic of Cyprus can be submitted either electronically through the PSC Cyprus portal or by hand/post to the competent authority:

copy of certificate that the applicant lawfully exercises the veterinary practice in an EU member state and is not subject to prohibition from exercising the veterinary practice;

copies of diploma/certificate or title in Veterinary Medicine (certified translation in Greek or English language to be submitted).

The applicants may be requested to attend a personal interview held by the Cyprus Veterinary Council in order to assess the level of knowledge of the Greek language and especially the knowledge of the veterinary terminology.

Obligations and Supervision

Natural persons providing veterinary services in the Republic of Cyprus are obliged to comply with the provisions of the Professional Code of Veterinary Practice Regulations of 1994, K.D.P 38/94 as amended and the Exercise οf Veterinary Practice and Registration of Veterinary Surgeons Law, 169/90 as amended. Specifically, the registered veterinarians are obliged, among others, to:

contribute, to the extent possible, to the enhancement of animal production;

promote the animals’ welfare with the prevention and treatment of animal diseases;

protect human’s health from animal diseases and ensure the highest possible hygiene and quality standards of the food and animal products;

defend the honour, reputation and dignity of the profession with their behaviour;

equally treat their customers regarding the provision, diligence and devotion exhibited in the cases undertaken;

provide explicit directions as per the usage and custody of the prescribed medicine;

behave with respect, politeness and generosity towards their colleagues;

not implement procedures or methods of unfair competition during the exercise of the veterinary practice;

be fully informed regarding the latest scientific developments especially those relating to the veterinary practice;

keep records of cases and activities undertaken relating to the exercise of veterinary practice.

The Cyprus Veterinary Council is the delegated body to exercise disciplinary control on the registered veterinarians and impose disciplinary penalties, such as the temporary or permanent deletion of a registered veterinarian from the registry, temporary suspension of the authorisation to exercise the veterinary practice and other.